This article
appeared on the
WYSO news site on Jun 5, 2013. It was written by Dan
Patterson. Tomorrow is the 6th of June. Sixty-nine years ago, the allied forces
at war with Hitler’s Germany invaded northern France in what will always
be known as D-Day. On that morning in 1944, when Ohioans woke up, the
battle in Europe had already been going on for hours. The airborne troops
were the first ones to enter the conflict. One local paratroop veteran
of that battled died recently, but told his story to our aviation commentator
Dan Patterson. The battle began in the middle of the night along
the French Normandy coast where a large peninsula pokes into the ocean.
Behind the coastline were small villages, important crossroads and the
target of the aerial assault. The advent of aerial warfare in the 1940s
meant that warriors were dropped behind the front lines to surprise
the enemy and capture important targets. These were elite troops.
Among
the paratroops a badge of honor was their uniform, which by necessity
included pants with big pockets tucked into their high topped jump boots.
It gave them a unique style which the rest of the American Army did
not have. In the book about the airborne troops, Those Devils in
Baggy Pants by Ross Carter, he quotes the diary of a German officer
killed in action who wrote, "American parachutists...the devils in baggy
pants...are less than 100 meters from my outpost...I cannot sleep at
night. They pop up everywhere and we never know when or how they will
strike next. Seems like the black hearted devils are everywhere."
The
evening before all across southern England, American paratroopers had
climbed into C-47 transports. Miami Valley resident Jack Reames was
one of those men. Private Reames flew into the war that night with over
13,000 men who were the highly trained "point of the spear" attacking
occupied Europe. Just three hours behind them were 150,000 assault troops
approaching France in the largest armada ever assembled.^p
Several
years ago at his store in Vandalia, Jack told me his story. He was 19
years old, and when he went out the door of the C-47, it was 3:17 in
the morning on June 6, 1944. Due to low cloud, German anti-aircraft
fire and nervous pilots, the precise plan for a concentrated drop went
haywire. Jack and nearly all the paratroopers in over 900 aircraft were
scattered all over the area behind the beaches. The village of St. Mere
Eglise was the center of the target zone. After he landed in the dark
and alone, Jack made his way to the town square, and near a church,
in an alley next to a stone garage, is where his war began.
Dawn
broke three hours later, and the seaborne invasion began. Even though
they weren't where they were supposed to be, these men created chaos
behind the beaches and proved the value of the airborne effort. They
gathered their forces and equipment and started the job they were sent
to do; liberate Europe from the occupation of the Nazis.
Jack Reames
fought through that battle and others in Holland too. He was wounded
in Belgium late in 1944. Jack survived the war, and went on to have
the great American life: married his wife Helen, raised a family, had
a small business. He had a quick smile, a glint in his eye and always
a good word. I asked Jack what he thought of the film Saving Private
Ryan, which is about the grittiness and at times desperate experiences
of the paratroopers in Normandy. He looked me straight in the eye and
said, "all that was missing is what it smelled like."
He died this
February and his graveside ceremony was simple and elegant. Six men,
also veteran airborne troops, each saluted his ashes, picked up an M-1
rifle and formed a guard of honor and after a lone bugler played "Taps,"
they fired three salutes, the shots echoing across the snowy landscape.
On this anniversary of the invasion, D-Day, take a moment to reflect
on the enormity of what took place on the coast of France. Celebrate
the lives of Jack Reames and all who went before him and those yet to
follow. Dan Patterson is an aviation historian and photographer.
You can see more of his photos at his
website.
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